Behind the scenes

 As you know, we have been plugging away on our new, well new to us, house. With the help of the local crew under Ryan and Duane's management. Last Wednesday we embarked on a quick 6 hour trip to the Capital city of Guatemala (Guatemala City) for supplies and renewal of our tourist visits.

We were able to spend a few nights at a safe hotel in the city where the kids were able to swim, and we were once again able to grab a few doughnuts!

The trip home we were once again loaded with supplies. Our last trip to the city was two months ago. We were able to make our groceries stretch with a few supplemental items from flights to the city. We are hopeful that we will be able to make our next trip a little less stressful, and drive home during the day. We arrived home at 10 pm Friday night. Needless to say we were all tired. We unloaded the sleepy heads and cold groceries, and crashed.






The trip home was slow, and we didn't start until about 3. The sun was nice, and the scenery was beautiful. As soon as we climbed into the mountains, the weather was cool. At the coolest point, the temp was at 50 (f). Not cool to everyone at home, but for a region that lives in dirt or uninsulated block homes with no central or temperature controlled anything, this is cold.


With the building supplies we brought home, we should be able to move into the 'new' house. We have about two months before the new arrivals come, and we will need to be vacated, but we are hoping to get into the house as soon as possible, and be settled for a little while.


The construction on the Hospital is moving along, slowly, as we continue to prep equipment and hone the raw materials process. We are looking into sand washing and trying to find the most effective, yet realistic approach to modern concrete construction practices, while keeping the 'Guatemalan limitations' in mind.


We are about a week till Christmas, and still no tree. I think I may abandon the idea, and keep my disappointment to a minimum. Maybe hang a few more lights, and pretend. I feel like we need to make new Christmas traditions, as the ones we are so familiar with, are just unattainable here. Maybe that is for the better. Almost all gifts are home made or practical necessities and are up in the air until the day before. We will likely work up to and after the holiday, and try to embrace the Guatemalan tradition of the midnight fireworks. We are still foreigners here. I guess we are blended as much as any family.



I am sure Christmas is in full swing at home, and all the craziness of the 25th deadline is suffocating sometime. I hope you have time to appreciate the Christmas season for what it is, and embrace the prospect of keeping the message of Jesus birth and the events that followed as a reminder of the transcending power of Jesus birth, life, and sacrifice.

Blessing!

-Me

At the current rate...

.

 I thought I would share a little about the seasons here in Guatemala.

Since about mid October, the daily rains have stopped. The air is very dry now, and the nights are cool. The valley of Canilla has an old water supply or canal, that carries water down from the mountaintop. Then, through to several areas of the valley where it is branched off, redirected, and manipulated, almost entirely through gravity.
The Canal has been a large part of the agriculture here for many decades.

Each year as the rain ends, and the dry season begins, the canal allows farmers to irrigate their crops, allowing for a continuous growing season.
The canal is shared by all the farmers in the valley that pay the yearly fees, and engineer a route for the water to reach their property. On the assigned day, boards or a type of block are used to redirect a portion of the water flow. It is not uncommon for the water to pass under roads or through neighboring property.

The water is not  clean enough for drinking, but there are numerous families that  utilize the water supply for laundry, baths and cleaning. My children enjoy dipping their toes into the cold water, as the dry season can bring the hottest weather we see. Some of our neighbors will dip out of the canal, and wet the road to eliminate some of the dust for motorcycle and automobile traffic.The dust during the dry season seems to settle onto everything.

The rains will begin again in June. Between now and then, the entire countryside will turn brown. The grass will go doormat, and the fields that are not irrigated will sit idle until the rains begin again.





The canal happens to run directly past the front of the AIM compound as well as the Hospital construction site.  We will be using the canal water supply for most of the early hospital construction. We hope to dig a well with sufficient water supply on the Hospital property. This is no small task. We have investigated and inquired about a well, and when it is all said and done, we are told the cost will be upwards of $75,000 US.  Needless to say, we have not started drilling, but through God's faithfulness, we will start the well soon, and be one step closer to opening the doors of the Hospital.